The Creature Teachers

The out of office sign is up, and we'll be back to encounters and emails on Aug 14th! Nanuq has already clocked out for the week!

Thistle has been busy growing and learning. She has definitely 'stepped up' (falconry pun intended!) this week, and smashed many of her training goals, doing her first flights to some of our birthday children, summer campers, and nursing homes too! She still has a long way to go in her training, but Echo would be proud of her little protégé.

With many tears, I have to share the heartbreaking news that, our magical Echo was put to sleep yesterday morning, after a short illness. Echo has been with us since she was 3 weeks old, and would have turned 14 on Aug 4th.
Echo has been a special part of thousands of people's lives. She's flown rings at weddings, flown to countless birthday children and adults up to the age of 106, she's been to hen dos, baby showers, end of life visits, inspiring awe in schools, nursing homes, making amazing memories for so many, that will live on for years to come.
I've often said, Echo is like a fairytale animal, she is so amazing, she must be magical. Those who got to meet her will know how special she was, she was the heart and soul of Creature Teachers.
Baby Thistle has been stepping in for Echo, while she was unwell, and her training continues, but she will take time to learn, and has quite big anklets to fill.
I've been going through pictures, there never seems to be enough when this day comes. I've picked a few of my favourites to try and honor her memory, but if anyone has pictures of Echo to share, please do, I don't actually have many photos of me and Echo where I'm not dressed as a witch, so those would be appreciated!
Our little girl made a huge impact during her time with us, and she will always be in our hearts.

Lisa & the Creature Teacher team

All the furry animals get a warm welcome Upton Manor Care Home ! 🐇 🕷

Squeezing in our last school visits before the summer holidays hit! Lots of our usual topics, like 'Rainforests' getting covered. July is mostly 'Leavers' month though, and we do lots of nursery farewell visits for children moving on to 'big school', or welcome visits for young people heading to their new secondary school! It's always lovely to be part of such an exciting stage in children's lives!

Just Thistle being adorable! Her adult feathers are coming through on her chest now, they look like little arms 😆 The brown feathers are coming through around her face, and are growing fast too. She's 10 weeks old!

Suzette has the best 'slightly disgruntled, totally unimpressed' facial expression, which we need for this post!
For reasons best known to itself has removed 40 of our reviews. Given that Lisa consistently forgets to ask everyone we meet to do us a review, we appreciate every review we get, and we don't want to lose them!

The problem has been reported, but not heard anything back yet. In the meantime, if you've experienced this, can you let us know how it got sorted, and if we've ever met you on our adventures, do you mind leaving us a review!

Thank you!

Has Zeus taken up bingo in his retirement? In totally unrelated news, we never turn down clean paper of any description at H.Q. for enclosure cleans! Paper changes are at least once a day for enclosures and litter trays, we go through alot!

Summer sun really makes the blue on Gili's feathers shine! Kookaburras are actually a species of kingfisher! Gili is a laughing kookaburra, also known as the giant kingfisher. because they are the largest in the family!

Thistle is growing so fast! We're a long way from that tiny bundle of yellow feathers who joined us a month ago!

That moment of surprise when Steve sticks out his blue tongue! Always a great visit with Oaktree Lodge!

Imagine growing up and discovering you have wings! This was Thistle 3 weeks ago, doing just that! All those brown feathers are the adult feathers growing through, replacing the blonde baby fluffy feathers! A couple of weeks later we had lift off!

Comparing broaches at Upton Manor Care Home! Billy-Bob the stick insect wasn't sparkly enough to add to the collection, clearly! That's not Billy-Bob on Lisa's hand, by the way, he's the one hanging out on her shirt!

Thistle's first days at HQ included alot of sleeping, snuggling, growing wing feathers, stretching those wings, and more naps!

Ferret bath time looking like a choreographed dance routine!

Sun's out, tongue's out!

Happy 14th birthday to a very soggy Gili! 75% of his enclosure is under cover, Gili chooses to sit in the rain 100% of the time.

Baby jungle nymphs! The females have the pointy bottom which she uses to lay her eggs. The male has a pattern that makes him look abit like he's a stick covered in bird poo! Camouflage 10/10!

Today is the anniversary of the first ever public encounter The Creature Teachers were invited to, in 2011! And here is a lovely piece, in Dorset View, about a more recent visit. It's such a privilege to be able to do this job, to see an idea come to life, and bring so much, to so many, over the years.

🐍 Many people are afraid of snakes, but not the residents of a Parkstone care home.

Care South’s Alexandra House on Alexandra Road, played host to a menagerie of animals – including a snake – brought in by The Creature Teachers, who run interactive one-to-one sessions with a range of reptiles, creepy crawlies, small mammals and feathered friends.

Read more 👇

https://www.dorsetview.co.uk/parkstone-care-home-residents-meet-snakes-and-feathered-friends/

Sun's out, daisies are out, time for ferret photos!

Dolly spends most of her time sitting on Lisa's head at H.Q. so seeing her sitting nicely on the hand, looking professional, is the most impressive part of this picture, for both of them! Thanks to Moorland House for capturing it!

Phoenix approves of the art work! Hopefully he's not getting any ideas for a makeover!

A couple of session free days ahead at H.Q. and the creatures are getting ready for some serious lounging! Have a great Easter weekend!

Arabella has her sun hat on today!

Another great catch up!

What a morning! Fantastic to see everyone's confidence grow, all supporting and encouraging each other! Such an amazing club!

We saw some excellent World Book Day costumes too! Think that's the first time Echo has flown to Rapunzel!

Ever sniffed a ferret while he sticks his tongue out at your mum who's trying to take a nice picture of you enjoying your birthday party? If you'd like to make this happen, be sure to ask for Nanuq the ferret when planning your birthday party creature guests!